Lubomyr Husar
His Eminent Beatitude
| |
|---|---|
| Cardinal, Major Archbishop Emeritus of Kiev-Galicia | |
 | |
| Church | Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church |
| Archdiocese | Kyiv |
| Province | Kyiv |
| Appointed | 29 August 2005 |
| Term ended | 10 February 2011 |
| Predecessor | none |
| Successor | Sviatoslav Shevchuk |
| Other posts | Cardinal-Priest of S. Sofia a Via Boccea |
| Orders | |
| Ordination |
30 March 1958 by Ambrozij Andrew Senyshyn |
| Consecration |
2 April 1976 by Josyf Ivanovycè Slipyj |
| Created Cardinal |
21 February 2001 by Pope John Paul II |
| Rank | Cardinal-Priest |
| Personal details | |
| Birth name | Lubomyr Husar |
| Born |
26 February 1933 Lwów, Poland |
| Nationality | Ukrainian |
| Denomination | Ukrainian Greek Catholic |
| Previous post |
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| Coat of arms |
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Lubomyr Husar MSU (Ukrainian: Любомир Гузар, Liubomyr Huzar; born 26 February 1933) is the major archbishop emeritus of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, a minority church in Ukraine but the largest sui juris Eastern church in full communion with the Holy See. He is also a Cardinal of the Catholic Church. After the transfer of the see of Lviv to Kyiv in 2005, he was the Ukrainian Catholic Major Archbishop of Kiev-Galicia. In February 2011 he became Major Archeparch Emeritus after he resigned due to ill health.
Biography
Early life and ordination
Born in Lviv, Husar fled with his parents in 1944 during World War II. They briefly lived in Salzburg, Austria, then emigrated to the United States in 1949.[1]
From 1950 to 1954 he studied at St. Basil College Seminary in Stamford, Connecticut. He studied at The Catholic University of America and Fordham University in the United States, and was ordained a priest on 30 March 1958 for the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Stamford.
Pastoral work
From 1958 to 1969, he taught at St. Basil College Seminary and was pastor at Holy Trinity Ukrainian Catholic Church in Kerhonkson, New York between 1966 and 1969. In 1969, Husar went to Rome, where he spent three years earning a doctorate in theology at the Pontifical Urbaniana University. He then entered the Monastery of the Studites in Castel Gandolfo in Italy, and was named its Superior in 1974.
Bishop
He was consecrated a bishop in 1976 in the Castel Gandolfo chapel by Major Archbishop Josyf Slipyj without papal permission (apostolic mandate) in an act which caused many irritations in the Roman Curia,[2] as Roman canon law required papal permission for the consecration of a bishop, but at that time Eastern canon law did not. He was named Archimandrite (Archabbot) of the Studite Monks in Europe and America in 1978. He organized a new Studite monastery in Ternopil, Ukraine, in 1994, and was elected by the Synod of Bishops of the Ukrainian Church as exarch of the archiepiscopal exarchy of Kiev and Vyshhorod in 1995, confirmed by the Pope the following year. Although once a citizen of the United States, Husar gave up his American citizenship upon returning to his native Ukraine.
Major Archbishop and Cardinal
| Styles of Lubomyr Husar | |
|---|---|
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| |
| Reference style | His Eminence |
| Spoken style | Your Eminence |
| Informal style | Cardinal |
In December 2000, Pope John Paul II named Husar apostolic administrator of the Ukrainian Greek Major-Archeparchy of Lviv, and in January 2001 the Ukrainian Greek synod elected him Major Archbishop. On 21 February of that year Pope John Paul II created and proclaimed Husar Cardinal-Priest of Santa Sofia a Via Boccea. Cardinal Husar was one of the three Eastern Catholics to participate in the papal conclave, 2005, the others being Ignace Daoud of the Syrian Catholic Church and Varkey Vithayathil of the Syro-Malabar Church. (Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir and Stéphanos II Ghattas of the Maronite Church and Coptic Catholic Church respectively were both over 80 and therefore could not take part.) At that papal conclave, he was one of the cardinals considered papabile, something unusual for an Eastern Catholic. Also at that conclave, Cardinal Husar was the first Major-Archbishop from the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church ever to participate in a papal conclave as cardinal-elector.[lower-alpha 1]
The major archiepiscopal see of Lviv was moved on 21 August 2005, to the city of Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. He is acclaimed by his followers as Patriarch of Kiev-Galicia, a title not recognized by the Holy See.
In October 2007, Husar received an honorary doctorate from the Catholic University of America in conjunction with the 100th anniversary of the first assigning of a bishop of the UGCC to the United States.[3]
In February 2008, a celebratory liturgy was held in the Basilica of Santa Sophia in Rome on the occasion of the 75th birthday and 50th anniversary of priesthood of Cardinal Husar. The Head of the UGCC was greeted by Pope Benedict XVI, whose address was read by the secretary of Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, Monsignor Maurizio Malvestiti.[4]
In 2008 Viktor Yushchenko signed a decree to decorate Cardinal Husar with the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise (the 3rd class). He was honoured with the highest state award “for his outstanding personal contribution in spiritual revival of the Ukrainian nation, longstanding church work, and to mark his 75th birthday”.
With failing eyesight forcing him to perform the church's intricate liturgical rites from memory, his early resignation was accepted on 10 February 2011[5] although normally the major archbishop serves for life. Cardinal Husar's resignation triggered a meeting of the Synod of the Ukrainian church, comprising its global body of bishops, to elect a new major archbishop, which must begin within a month. In the interim, Ihor Vozniak, C.SS.R., Archeparch of Lviv, served as administrator. The last time a Ukrainian Major Archbishop left office while living was in 1882. The new Major Archbishop, Sviatoslav Shevchuk was selected on 23 March and confirmed by Pope Benedict XVI on 25 March 2011.
On 26 February 2013, 2 days before the announced resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, Cardinal Husar turned 80 and lost his right to participate in a conclave.
Notes
- ↑ The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church has had five archbishops and major-archbishops who were made cardinals including Cardinal Husar. Two of them, Mykhajlo Levitsky and Sylvester Sembratovych died before having the opportunity to participate in a conclave. Two others, Josyf Slipyj and Myroslav Ivan Lubachivsky turned 80 and became ineligible to participate in a conclave under the terms of Pope Paul VI's 1971 motu propio Ingravescentem Aetatem, a rule subsequently confirmed in the Apostolic Constitutions Romano Pontifici Eligendo (1975) and Universi Dominici Gregis (1996). Slipyj was 86 during the two conclaves of 1978 and thus did not take part and Lubachevsky died in 2000 at the age of 86 and so would not have been eligible to participate in the conclave of 2005 had he still lived.
Sources and references
- ↑ "A Church that was supposed to disappear". Zenit News Agency. 15 November 2010.
- ↑ Apostolische Nachfolge. Ukraine. German [English] site of the German CSSp Province.
- ↑ RISU News
- ↑ "Pope Honors Head of UGCC on Priesthood Anniversary", RISU News, February 2008
- ↑ RINUNCIA DELL’ARCIVESCOVO MAGGIORE DI KYIV-HALYČ
External links
- Cardinalrating pages concerning him
- An interview published in February 2004 by Zerkalo Nedeli (Mirror Weekly), Kiev, in Ukrainian and in Russian.
- Biography at Catholic-pages.com
- Biography at Catholic-hierarchy.com
| Catholic Church titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Myroslav Ivan Lubachivsky |
Major Archbishop of Lviv 25 January 2001–6 December 2004 |
Succeeded by Ihor Vozniak as Archbishop of Lviv |
| New title | Archbishop of Kyiv 6 December 2004–10 February 2011 |
Succeeded by Sviatoslav Shevchuk |
| Major Archbishop of Kiev-Galicia 21 August 2005–10 February 2011 | ||
